Russell Hobbs Good To Go 6.5L Electric Multi Cooker review

The Russell Hobbs Good to Go Electric Multi Cooker allows you to cook a delicious meal with minimal effort. With eight different cooking functions and a 6.5-litre capacity pot, it perfectly serves large groups and families. For individuals or couples, the slow cooker is great at batch cooking, and by spending a bit of time on a weekend, you can guarantee yourself tasty meals throughout the week. 

The versatile nature of this do-it-all cooker means it comes with a higher price tag than other simpler models. At almost £80, the Good to Go is one of Russel Hobbs’ more expensive appliances, but given it can do almost everything, we think the price is very justified. The pot also comes away from its control panel, meaning once your meal is ready the cast aluminium dish can easily be transported to the table for everyone to tuck into. 

We tried out the Good to Go across a few weeks, attempting to make everything from simple weeknight dinners to feed a couple to impressive roasts for a group of friends on the weekend. Whether it was cooking for one or five, the results every time were consistently impressive, meaning that it most definitely qualifies as one of the best multi-cookers around.

Russell Hobbs Good To Go 6.5L Electric Multi Cooker  product specs 

• Type: Slow cooker
• Dimension: H24.4, W45.8, D29.9cm
• Cooking area: 6.5-litre pot
• Weight: 3.14kg
• Cooking modes: 8 - sear, roast, sous vide, slow cook, steam, rice, boil and keep warm 
• Power: 1000 watts
• Colour: Black
• Material: cast aluminium housing 

Yasmin Rufo

Yasmin is a freelance writer for Ideal Home and has considerable experience in product testing and review writing. Her expertise is in tech and gadget reviews with a focus on household tech, specifically smart technology.

Yasmin has previously worked at the Evening Standard as a Shopping Writer covering roundups of the best tech and household products on the market. She enjoys staying up to date with latest releases and trends.

Unboxing the Russell Hobbs Good To Go 6.5L Electric Multi Cooker 

Taking the parcel from the postman at the door, I was surprised by how heavy the cooker was. At just over 3 kg, it isn’t the easiest item to carry around the house. The pot was encased in cardboard that was quick to unbox and get rid of. 

On first impressions, the cooker looked impressively sleek. The matt black colour fit perfectly in my kitchen and the simple-to-follow instructions made it easy to set it up and get cooking without too much faff. 

Making one-pot chicken pasta 

A quick browse on the Russell Hobbs website provides a couple of video recipes that can be made solely in the slow cooker. I decided to opt for the one-pot chicken pasta that would require little effort and almost no washing up. 

As the cooker has many functions, I was able to boil the pasta in the pot, then sear the chicken, peppers and tomatoes, and finally heat through the cream, peas and spinach. 

The recipe doesn’t have much information on how long to cook each part of the meal, so it did take some trial and error before I got it right. 

Cooking the pasta took the same time as it would on the stove, but once it’s cooked it needs to be transferred to another dish whilst you cook the chicken. It was convenient to sear the chicken, pepper, onion and tomatoes altogether and it didn’t need much stirring. 

Combining it all was simple and the ‘keep warm’ function meant that the pasta could be reheated slightly as it did cool in the process of waiting for the rest of the dish to be ready. 

Making rice 

As someone who has always struggled with cooking rice perfectly every time, I was keen to try the rice function on the slow cooker. 

The instruction manual clearly explains this simple process - you wash the rice then add it to the slow cooker with enough water to cover the grains. A good general rule of thumb is two cups of water for every cup of rice. All that’s left to do is sit back and relax whilst the cooker does it all. 

It takes a bit longer to cook the rice compared to the traditional method on the hob, but I think it’s worth it for perfect rice every time. 

Making vegetable stew 

Given the cold weather, I was eager to eat something hearty and warm for dinner, so I decided to try out a vegetable stew using the fry and delay start function. 

I started by using the fry setting to cook heaps of chopped vegetables. The settings automatically regulate the temperature and are pre-set to 30 minutes, though this can easily be adjusted. 

After 30 minutes my vegetables were well-cooked and soft, but not mushy. I then added spinach, tins of tomato and stock cube to the pot and set the slow cooker to two hours on high heat. 

I used the delay start timer so the slow cooker would start stewing my vegetables later in the day. 

When I came home, the stew required a quick stir and 30 more minutes on a low setting to allow more of the liquid to be absorbed. After that, it was ready to eat and the flavour was delicious - this is the way forward when it comes to making warming stews! 

Making berry custard tarts 

Despite being impressed so far with the electric cooker’s ability to do almost everything, I was sceptical about whether it could make desserts too. Having seen a berry custard pots recipe on the Russell Hobbs website, I thought I'd give it a go. 

I started by boiling cream, milk and vanilla in the slow cooker and then strained it into a bowl. I then added eggs and sugar and whisked until it was a smooth mixture. I divided the batter into glass ramekins that I placed directly in the cooker. Using the sous vide setting I cooked the custard pots for 20 minutes and then let them chill in the fridge. I usually sprinkle chopped strawberries onto the pots, but I tried searing them with sugar in the slow cooker and they were delicious. 

The final result was pretty impressive - they were well-cooked, flavoursome and quicker to make than my usual recipe. 

How does it compare to similar models and its predecessors? 

The Russell Hobbs Good To Go 6 is definitely an upgrade from previous models. It has a sleeker design, and far more functions and the removable pot is great for taking food directly to the table. 

However, compared to other options such as the Ninja 9-in-1 multi-cooker, the interface of this model does look slightly dated. Many slow cookers nowadays are programmed via a touch screen or have Bluetooth/ WiFi capabilities to link up to your phone so you can control it from afar. 

Should you buy the Russell Hobbs Good To Go 6.5L Electric Multi Cooker?

The Good to Go Cooker is one of the most versatile kitchen appliances I have seen in a long time. Its various functions mean that it’s incredibly simple to cook one-pot meals - you can do everything from cook pasta, bake tarts and stew casseroles. 

Its large size does mean it takes up some space on the countertop, so that’s something to be conscious of if you’re short on space. It works particularly well for families or bulk cooking as it can fit large joints of meat and plenty of vegetables or carbohydrates. 

It is more expensive than other cookers on the market, but its multiple functions, durable build and easy-to-use interface justify the price tag.  

About this review, and the reviewer 

Yasmin tested this multi-cooker at home for several weeks in accordance with Ideal Home's testing protocol. She tried out a variety of recipes, including desserts, to establish if this slow cooker is worth your investment.